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jerry-grimes
Reviews
Hanna (2019)
Powerful, well written and well acted
Possibly my favorite action series currently available. The only thing I didn't like about it was the music, which ranged from annoyingly bad to cringe-inducing. I love Joel Kinneman and Mireielle Enos together. They were awesome a few years back in another series about a murder in Seattle. In this Enos is icy, cold and calculating and at times I hated her character like a good villain. At other times she is caring and maternal and victimized and I doubt myself rooting for her like a good hero. Kinneman is the same way. As a talented actor, he brought out the most in his character. Esme Creed Miles is very good as well and provides something often lacking in the action genre, a strong female lead.
Forever (2018)
Self indulgent, but moments of brilliance
I see what writers and producers of "Forever" were going for, but to me they largely missed the mark. As Ebert wrote in his review, it's hard to discuss "Forever" without giving away the one thing it brings to the table, and that is a sort of hidden charm that you have to experience for yourself. The problem I have with it is that in trying to be perhaps avant guard (for lack of a better term) some really important rules of television and cinema were not just bent a little, they were shattered. As other viewers have noted, you have to get to about the third episode before you can even really enjoy watching this series. Before that, the lethargic pace can only be tabled as self indulgent. There is scene after scene of exactly the same thing, meant to reinforce how boring June and Oscar's life is. Yeah, we got it the second time, guys. You don't have to show us again, again, again, and again. That's kind of rude of you, actually. Then there is this whole bizarre non sequitur with two entirely different characters that was delightful, but fits in absolutely no where. What the? And the purpose of that was? To me, "Forever" is like a really great rock ballad that you love but when you read the lyrics, no matter how you try, they make no sense. Then you see the artist on some chat show and they shrug and say, "yeah, I don't know what it means, either." It leaves me wanting more and wishing there was some kind of rhyme or reason to the whole thing. But still, I don't think I wasted my time watching it. I loved the way it was shot, the characters and what is attempting to say. I just wish whoever it is could be said with more clarity.